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(2017) 000–000
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Energy
EnergyProcedia
Procedia138 (2017) 000–000
00 (2017) 512–517
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

2017
2017 International
International Conference
Conference on
on Alternative
Alternative Energy
Energy in
in Developing
Developing Countries
Countries and
and Emerging
Emerging Economies
Economies
2017
2017 AEDCEE,
AEDCEE, 25‐26
25‐26 May
May 2017,
2017, Bangkok,
Bangkok, Thailand
Thailand

Experimental
TheResearch of Drying
15th International Red
Symposium Chili Heating
on District by Two
andMethods:
Cooling Solar
Drying
Assessing theand Low - Temperature
feasibility of using the System Drying
heat demand-outdoor
temperature function
Chatchawal for
Nimrotham aa a long-term district heat demand
*, Roongrojana Songprakorpaa, Sirichai Thepaforecast
aa
,
Veerapol Monyakulbb
I. Andrića,b,c*, A. Pinaa, P. Ferrãoa, J. Fournierb., B. Lacarrièrec, O. Le Correc
aa
Division
Division ofof Energy
Energy Technology,
Technology, School
School of
of Energy,
Energy, Environment
Environment andand Materials,
Materials, King
King Momgkut’s
Momgkut’s University
University of
of Technology
Technology Thonburi,
Thonburi,
a
IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research - InstitutoThailand
Bangkok,10140,
Bangkok,10140, Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Thailand
b
bb
Pilot
Pilot Plant Veoliaand
Plant Development
Development Recherche
and Training&Institute,
Training Innovation,
Institute, King291
King Avenue Dreyfous
Mongkut's
Mongkut's UniversityDaniel,
University of 78520 Limay,
of Technology
Technology France
Thonburi
Thonburi (Bang
(Bang Khun
Khun Thien),
Thien),
c
Département Systèmes Énergétiques et Environnement
Bangkok, - IMTThailand
Bangkok, 10150,
10150, Atlantique, 4 rue Alfred Kastler, 44300 Nantes, France
Thailand

Abstract
Abstract
Abstract
The
The objective
objective of of this
this research
research was
was toto experiment
experiment of of solar
solar drying
drying and and Low-Temperature
Low-Temperature system system drying
drying (45-50%RH,
(45-50%RH, 27-30°C)
27-30°C) for for
District
drying
drying redheating
red networks
chili. Solar
chili. Solar drying
drying areduring
commonly
during daytime
daytime addressed
(greenhouse
(greenhousein the literature
dryer)
dryer) as oneat
and during
and during atofnight
the using
night most
using effective solutions
climate control
climate control for decreasing
system
system to coordinate
to coordinatethe
greenhouse
with
with air gas emissions
air conditioner
conditioner in fromThe
in drying.
drying. the building
The sector. These
Low-Temperature
Low-Temperature systems
system
system require
consists
consists thehigh
the investments
humidity
humidity controlwhich
control unit are returned air-conditioner,
unit (ultrasonic),
(ultrasonic), through the heat
air-conditioner,
sales. Due and
temperature
temperature to the
and changed
relative
relative climate
humidity
humidity conditions
sensor,
sensor, heatingand
heating coilbuilding
coil and renovation policies,
and microcontroller
microcontroller unit. Forheat
unit. For demand in thedrying
Low-Temperature
Low-Temperature futureprocess,
drying could decrease,
process, climate
climate
prolonging
control
control systemthecontrols
system investment
controls the return
the period.in
compressor
compressor in the
the air
air conditioner
conditioner by by turn
turn on-off
on-off to to control
control the the temperature
temperature andand relative
relative humidity
humidity in in
The
the
the main scope
chamber.
chamber. Theof
The this paper is to assess
dehumidification
dehumidification process
process thebyfeasibility
by controlling
controlling of the
using
the the heat demand
temperature
temperature of
of the – outdoor
the surface
surface temperature
evaporator
evaporator coilfunction
coil is for heat
is decreased
decreased to demand
to the
the dew
dew
point
point temperature,
temperature,
forecast. The districtmaking
making water
water vapor
of Alvalade, vapor in
in the
locatedtheinair condensed
airLisbon
condensed to
to be
be water
(Portugal), was drops.
water drops.
used as The
Thea result of
of solar
resultstudy.
case solar drying
drying
The and
andisLow-Temperature
district Low-Temperature
consisted of 665
system
system takes
takes
buildings 52h
52hvary
that to
to reduce
in boththe
reduce moisture
moisture content
theconstruction periodof
content about
ofand
about 74%
74% to
typology. 13.5%
to Three (w.b).
(w.b). For
13.5%weather For temperature
temperature
scenarios (low,and
and relative humidity
relativehigh)
medium, humidity of
of the
and three solar
thedistrict
solar
drying
drying at
at 50
renovation °C and
°C and 36%RH
50scenarios 36%RH by
by average,
were developed average, in
in during
(shallow,during daylight
daylight and
intermediate, and at
at night
deep). night with
with Low-temperature
To estimate Low-temperature
the error, obtained drying
drying system
heatsystem
demand by
by the
the climate
valuesclimate
were
control
control
comparedsystem
withcoordinate
system coordinate
results from with
with air
air conditioning
conditioning
a dynamic heat demandsystem
system in
in moisture
model, moisture
previouslyreduction
reduction
developedat
at 27-30°C
27-30°C and
and relative
and validated by thehumidity
relative authors. at
humidity at 45-50%RH
45-50%RH for for
drying
drying chili
chili in
The results in the
the night.
showed that These
night. These processes
processes
when only weatherwere
were found
foundisto
change have
have average
toconsidered,
average thetemperatures
temperatures
margin of error and relative
andcould be humidity
relative acceptablefor
humidity fordrying
for someat
drying at 27.55°C,
27.55°C,
applications
47.37%
47.37% RH.,
RH.,
(the error in moisture
moisture condensation
annual demandcondensation rate
was lowerrate and
thanspecific
and specific
20% for energy
energy consumption
consumption
all weather scenarios at
at 2.16
2.16 kg water/h
kgwater
considered). /h and
and 0.75
0.75 MJ/kg.
However, MJ/kg.
after introducing renovation
scenarios, the error value increased up to 59.5% (depending on the weather and renovation scenarios combination considered).
©
© 2017
©The
2017
2017 The
The Authors.
The of
Authors.
Authors. Published
Published by
Published by
by Elsevier
Elsevier
Elsevieron Ltd.
Ltd.
Ltd.average within the range of 3.8% up to 8% per decade, that corresponds to the
value slope coefficient increased
Peer-review
Peer-review
Peer-review under
under
under responsibility
responsibility
responsibility of
of the
of the
the scientific
Organizing
Organizing committee
Committee
Committee of the 2017AEDCEE.
International Conference on Alternative Energy in
decrease in the number of heating
­Developing Countries and Emerging Economies. hours of 22-139h during of of 2017
the 2017
heatingAEDCEE.
season (depending on the combination of weather and
renovation scenarios considered). On the other hand, function intercept increased for 7.8-12.7% per decade (depending on the
Keywords:
Keywords: Climate
Climate control
coupled scenarios). control system;
system;
The values Low-temperature
Low-temperature
suggested could besystem;
system;
used tosolar
solar
modify drying;
drying; red
red chili,
the function chili,parameters for the scenarios considered, and
improve the accuracy of heat demand estimations.

© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and
** Corresponding
Corresponding author.
author. Tel.:+0-662-470-8610;
Tel.:+0-662-470-8610; fax:
fax: +0-662-427-9062
+0-662-427-9062
Cooling.
E-mail address: Nimrotham@yahoo.com
E-mail address: Nimrotham@yahoo.com
Keywords: Heat demand; Forecast; Climate change
1876-6102
1876-6102 ©© 2017
2017 The
The Authors.
Authors. Published
Published byby Elsevier
Elsevier Ltd.
Ltd.
Peer-review
Peer-review under
under responsibility
responsibility of
of the
the Organizing
Organizing Committee
Committee of
of 2017
2017 AEDCEE.
AEDCEE.

1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling.
1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 2017 International Conference on Alternative Energy in
­Developing Countries and Emerging Economies.
10.1016/j.egypro.2017.10.237
 Chatchawal Nimrotham et al. / Energy Procedia 138 (2017) 512–517 513
2 chatchawal Nimrotham et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000

1. Introduction

Thailand is located in the tropical climate zone. The annual average temperature is 27C and the relative humidity
is in a range of 40-80% RH.[1] The high humidity in the air affects on dried chili products, which the fungi easily
takes place causing these products to have low quality. Chili is a main ingredient in cooking, as it has high
nutritional value. For red chili, it was found to be very nutritious, with high vitamin C (175mg /100g), calcium
(15mg/100g), fiber (4.8%), protein (2.8%), iron (1.8mg/100g), ash (0.9 mg /100g) and lipids (0.7mg/100g) [2]. It is
also source of nutrients in the human diet. In Thailand, red chili is usually dried directly under the sun. Direct solar
drying requires an area with a large, open space and long drying times. It is highly dependent on the availability of
sunshine and is susceptible to contamination of insect, pests, fungi, microorganisms and dust. Most agricultural
products require drying process in an effort to preserve the quality of the final product. The drying process requires
high heat to vaporize in the material, but the use of high heat also affects in a loss of color, aroma and vitamins in
products.[3] Commonly, heat pump and solar dryers have operated in the range 35-70 °C [4]-[7]. It is a high
temperature. However, solar drying offers are a cheap method, but have two main weaknesses. It is the drying
discontinuously and dependent on weather condition and location. During nighttime, ambient temperature decreases,
the relative humidity increases. In some cases, dried chili absorbs moisture in the air until the moisture of the dried
chili is balanced with relative humidity in the air. There have been reported that the relative humidity level in the air
can affect the growth of fungi. The research of Anthony V Arundel el at was found that the fungi in the air grew
well at relative humidity higher than 60% RH, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig.1 Range of the relative humidity that the fungi and bacteria can grow [8]

The fungi and bacteria cannot grow when the humidity is in the range of 40 -60%RH. Therefore, the relative
humidity must be kept in this range for food to be safe from fungi [8]. Under these conditions, a new method for
drying chilies, which low-temperature drying s similar to heated air drying but does not involve heat. For this
research, dried chilies were sun dried during daytime and night time they were dried with low temperature system
until the moisture content in chili was 13.50wb. The low temperature system is to reduce the relative humidity in the
air by controlling the temperature at the surface of the cooling coil of air conditioning to below the dew point
temperature, air is condensed into water drop. The relative humidity and temperature of the air is low.
Dehumidification is carried out by applying an air conditioning system, working with a climate control unit to
control temperature and relative humidity at 27-30°C and 45-50% RH, [9] respectively, for drying of red chili during
the night. The aim of this research is to evaluate the performance and power consumption of solar drying intergraded
with low-temperature drying system in controlling temperature of 27-30oC and relative humidity of 45-50 %RH.
514 Chatchawal Nimrotham et al. / Energy Procedia 138 (2017) 512–517
chatchawal Nimrotham et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000 3

Nomenclature

MCR moisture condensation rate, kg water/h MC moisture content, kg/kg

mae rate of mass flow through the cooling coils, kg/s Wt weight of sample groups at any time, kg
ωea moisture ratio exiting cooling coils, kgwater/kgdry air Wd weight of the dried chillies, kg
ωei moisture ratio entering cooling coils kgwater/kgdry air Wnet energy consumption in system, kWh
SMCR specific moisture condensation rate, kgwater/kWh Min Initial moisture content
SEC specific energy consumption, MJ/kg Mt moisture content of the products
Meq Equilibrium moisture content MR moisture ratio
T temperature,°C RH Relative humidity,%

2. Material and method

2.1 Low temperature drying system

These system main components of temperature and humidity control by air conditioning system (12000 BTU/h)
and climate controller system for drying. Climate controller system consists is ultrasonic humidifier to increase
water volume in the air, heater coil (2kW) to increase temperature inside the chamber, inverter unit and micro
controller unit (MCU) to control a compressor in air conditioning systems show in Fig.2, to control relative
humidity and temperature in chamber for drying red chili.

2.2 Details and System Operation

From Fig.2 , the MCU measures the temperature and the relative humidity inside (Texp, %RH exp) the chamber
and compares the values with the set point relative humidity and temperature before the operation (Tset,% RHset). If
relative humidity and temperatures exceed the setting values, MCU unit will turn on the compressor until the
temperature and humidity are equal to the setting points and then the speed of the compressor begins to decline or
turn-off. In this case, when the relative humidity is reduced, temperature in the chamber will become lower as well.
MCU will order electric heater to increase the air temperature in the chamber. In case that the relative humidity in
the air is lower than the set point value, the MCU will order the ultrasonic to operate in order to increase the quantity
of water vapor in the air until it reaches the setting and then ultrasonic will be turn off [9][10].

Fig.2 schematic diagram of dehumidifier for low temperature drying [10]

This system use air conditioning cooperated with climate control system to a dehumidifier in the drying red chilli in
night time. Performance assessment of dehumidifying in the drying can be calculated as follows: [11-12]

MCR = mae (ωei − ωea ) × 3600 (1)

The specific moisture condensation rate (SMCR) can be calculated as [13]

mae (ωei − ωea )

SMCR = × 3600 (2)
Wnet
 Chatchawal Nimrotham et al. / Energy Procedia 138 (2017) 512–517 515
4 chatchawal Nimrotham et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000

The specific energy consumption (SEC) can be calculated as

Wnet
SEC = × 3600 (3)
mae (ωei − ωea )

Drying process of red chili can be analysed by the following equation. [4][14]

Wt − Wd
MC = (4)
Wt

The kinetics study of drying the red chillies by controlling the relative humidity can be studied in form of moisture
ratio as the following equation.[14]
M t − M eq
MR = (5)
M in − M eq

2.3 Greenhouse drying

The greenhouse solar dryer was installed at Chachoengsao Province. The dryer has a width of 0.50 m, length of
1.50 m and height 0.5 m and consists of a parabolic roof structure made form polypropylene which can be found in
local areas as shown in Fig. 3

2.4.Experimental procedure

Fresh red chilies would be purchased from the local markets and selected the best ones for experiment. Chillies
of uniform size were selected for the drying experiments. The average values of the length of the red chili were
about 6-8 cm. In this experiment 3000gram of red chili was ready to drying operation in the greenhouse and Low-
temperature drying process. At the daytime, red chili is dried inside the drying chamber by the solar drying as show
Fig. 3 and at night time by Low-temperature system for drying chili, drying chamber is 16 m2size. This system
controls the temperature (27-30°C) and relative humidity (40-45%RH) during chili drying, until the final moisture
content of 13.5%wb.The determination of moisture content of chilies is acted by measuring the weight of red chilies
after the drying in every 2 hours until the weight of chilies not changed. The initial moisture content was determined
by the oven method at 103 °C for 72 h., The chilies 's moisture content is calculated from weight loss of chili
samples according to AOAC standard (1995) [15]. The temperature and relative humidity in the chamber are
recorded through using a data logger ) Wisco DL 2000( every 30 minute. The velocity of air into or out of the
cooling coils is measured using Anemometer AM4206 at 3m/s. The performance assessment of water vapor
extraction in the air follows the equation (1)-(3), by air flow rate through the cooling coil at 1,080kg/h in air
conditioning system for drying.

Fig.3 Schematic of the solar drying and Low-temperature drying systems

516 Chatchawal Nimrotham et al. / Energy Procedia 138 (2017) 512–517
chatchawal Nimrotham et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000 5

3. Results and discussion

Drying experiments of red chili in the greenhouse dryer were carried out during January in 2017. Fig.4 (a) shows
the evaluation of air temperature of dryer chamber and ambient air temperature during experimental drying of red
chili. The drying chamber temperature range was around 29.86°C to 63.16 °C and an average temperature chamber
about 5 0 °C. Ambient temperature range was around 2 8 °C to 3 5 °C, and an average temperature ambient about
3 0 .7 4 °C. Relative humidity of dryer was parameter that considered during the experimental drying of chili. Fig.4
(b) shows relative humidity of dryer chamber and ambient air relative humidity versus drying time. Relative
humidity of drying chamber was around 1 4 .8 7 % to 7 1 % RH with average about 3 6 % RH. Ambient air relative
humidity was around 38.73 % to 78 % RH with average about 49 % . The relative humidity of ambient air is more
than relative humidity of air inside the dryer chamber. Therefore, the result of comparison between relative
humidity of dryer air and ambient air indicates the proposed dryer has suitable potential to reduce moisture content
of red chili.

Fig.4 Air temperature (a) and relative humidity (b) of dryer chamber on day time

From Fig.5 (a) shows the evaluation of air temperature of dryer chamber and ambient air temperature during
experimental drying of red chili on low temperature system in during night day. Drying chamber temperature range
was around 25.76to 29.8 °C an average temperature about 27.55°C. Ambient temperature range was around 28 °C to
35°C, and an average temperature ambient about 30.74 °C. Relative humidity of drying chamber was around 45% to
49.82 %RH with average about 47.37 %RH. The ambient air relative humidity was around 42.3% to 72.7%RH with
average about 65.19 %RH. The average of temperature and relative humidity (36 h) in air is then used calculate to
evaluation the moisture condensation rate (MCR) of air through the cooling coil in the air conditioning system and
energy consumption, as shown in Table 1.

Fig. 5 (a) Air temperature and relative humidity of dryer chamber on night time; (b) moisture contents versus time
drying for two drying methods

Fig.5 (b) shows decrease in moisture content wet basis of drying chili in low temperature system and solar dryer.
The experimental condition of low temperature system dryer was at (MCR) 2 . 1 6 kg/h (SMCR) 2 . 7 kg/kW and
energy consumption 0 . 7 5 MJ/kg for drying in night time. Result of experimental chili drying shows that the
moisture content of chili an initial value of 74%(wb) to 13.5% (wb) with in 52 h. The moisture content is reduced on
average 0.02g/g in period (5pm-9am) in night time and solar drying in daytime 0.193g/g (9am-5pm).
 Chatchawal Nimrotham et al. / Energy Procedia 138 (2017) 512–517 517
6 chatchawal Nimrotham et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000

Table1 shows the result of temperature control and the dehumidification for drying red chili of night day. The
moisture condensation rate (MCR) of air through the cooling coil in the air conditioning system is 2.16 kgwater/h,
specific moisture condensation rate (SMCR) is 2.7 kgwater/kWh, as well as the energy consumption 0.75 MJ/kg.

Table1. Experimental results in chamber dehumidification (night time)

Temperature % Relative Humidity ratio MCR SMCR SEC Watt-hour

Humidity kgwater kgwater/ meter
Experiment MJ/kg
T T RH RH /h kWh
inlet outlet inlet outlet
ω ea ω ein
Low-Temperature 27.55 16 47.37 79 0.0109 0.0089 2.16 2.7 0.75 0.8

4. Conclusions

This experimental research of red chili drying shows that the moisture content of chili through two drying
methods, conventional direct sun drying and low-temperature drying system. The drying processes were to reduce
from an initial value of 74 %to13.5% (wb) with in 52 h. The moisture content of drying processes is reduced on
average 0.02g/h (5pm-9am) in night time and solar drying in day time 0.193g/h (9am-5pm). Importantly, in this
drying system the red chillies are dried by not exposing to the hot air with high temperature (<50°C) for long time, so
it has a bright colour and aroma. Controlling relative humidity of the air inside the drying chamber results in reduced
water activity of the dried chilli, the fungus cannot grow.[16],which is important thing in preventing Aflatoxin.

Acknowledgement
The authors are deeply grateful to the Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO), Ministry of Energy, Thailand
for research funding.

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